AirAsia to Launch Remote Drone Pilot Training in Malaysia

(11 Jan 2022)  AirAsia has secured its Certificate of Approval (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to conduct remote drone pilot training.

The classroom training will be conducted at AirAsia Academy located in KL Sentral and practical training will be conducted at the YMCA Kuala Lumpur field, adjacent to KL Sentral.

“We are thrilled to be the first in Malaysia to win approval from CAAM for the accreditation of our remote pilot training organisation (RPTO). The team has been working closely together with CAAM for months. We thank the regulator for their ongoing support and really look forward to starting our first class in coming weeks,” said Captain Ling Liong Tien, Chief Safety Officer, AirAsia Group. “The idea behind becoming an RPTO is to support the industry by providing quality remote pilot training leveraging our strong aviation background and decades of expertise. UAS [unmanned aircraft system] has become an important element in many industries driving cost effectiveness and numerous efficiencies. Our commitment is to develop a strong foundation, supported by our existing robust safety management system, crew resource management and human factors training programmes along with the remote pilot training modules - both in the class and out in the field.”

AirAsia Group Chief Safety Officer, Captain Ling Liong Tien (front right) with the rest of the airasia Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) team

The latest development supports the upcoming drone pilot project for the delivery of goods from airasia’s e-commerce platforms, using automated drones.

Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Limited, Bo Lingam said, “We are proud to be driving the drone delivery revolution in Malaysia. It’s a lucrative and incredibly fast growing market. Globally, the industry has already taken off and is projected to reach USD 7.388 billion by 2027. This new training programme provides an opportunity to upskill our Allstars and offer exciting new programmes for the broader community, as well as supporting the drone industry in providing quality training to have more qualified remote pilots in Malaysia. No prior experience is necessary, making this a great opportunity for everyone to learn to fly. Ultimately this supports our vision to launch urban drone delivery in the future for goods and retail items from airasia’s e-commerce platforms. The skies are the limit as we can also potentially scale up to support remote areas for essential supplies during natural disasters for example.”

Commercial remote pilot training classes commence on 24 January 2022. Interested candidates do not need any prior aviation or flying experience and can register to enroll for one of the courses through the AirAsia Academy website.

The approved training courses are:

RCOC-B (Remote Pilot Certificate of Competency Basic - 5 days);

RCOC Module 1 (EVLOS) (Extended Visual Line of Sight - 2 days);

SMS (Safety Management System - 3 Days); and

CRM (Crew Resource Management - 2 Days).

More courses/modules are expected to be introduced in the near future.

“Innovation has always been in our DNA and we can’t wait to launch the new drone curriculum at the Drone Academy within our digital edutech arm, AirAsia Academy, as we continue to support the digitalisation of Malaysia through a broad range of innovative tech based training programmes,” said Aireen Omar, President AirAsia Group (digital). “Drone delivery will soon become our latest logistics solution, providing a strong boost to support the ever growing e-commerce industry. Most importantly, this innovation will allow us to create new high-tech job opportunities for Malaysians. The ability to pivot is part of our culture and while some are losing their jobs in aviation, we offer a second chance for them to build a new career with us through e-commerce with initiatives such as this.”